Dark Angel
by Shadow Typhoon
Summary: Ulquiorra finally realizes his true self. So, in order to become free, he kills himself. But something happened. Now he has to control his new powers - as a Vasto Lorde. But time is running out and the war is soon coming to an end. Can he make it in time?
1. Reflection

_Hi, it´s Shadow Typhoon. This is my second fanfiction. I´m not finished with my first one yet, so I decided to alternately add a chapter to each of the stories. So every second week, I will add up a chapter do this story and the same for my other fanfiction, Dark Ice. So please enjoy. _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach_

_Oh, I forgot something. Before you start reading this story, please read the following text. In this story, all of the espada are adjuchas. But some of them are very close on evolving into Vasto Lorde´s. Aizen had tried to find some Vasto Lorde´s, but he failed. _

_Now you can read my story, so enjoy_

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**Dark Angel**

**Chapter 1: Reflection**

**by Shadow Typhoon**

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Ulquiorra found himself in the negación field after being sent there by Grimmjow. He sighed and got mad at himself, scolding himself for getting in this mess. But it wouldn´t change his situation. He sighed again and clenched his fist, ready to break the barrier. He knew, that it wouldn´t take a long time.

He then proceeded to hit it. But nothing happened. Ulquiorra lifted his eyebrow, surprised that nothing had happened. He hit it again and again, but still nothing happened. He then lifted his arm and pointed at the barrier with his finger and a cero shot out. But the cero dissolved into dust.

Now Ulquiorra was worried. Why didn´t it work? He sighed and closed his eyes. He leaned onto the barrier and slid down, so he sat on the ground. He made his face rest on his knees and let his thoughts wander. He thought of an incident which occurred 3 weeks ago.

He was giving the woman (Orihime) some food and she had asked him a question, a question which he couldn´t answer.

"What is your dream? What is your goal in life, your purpose? "He hadn´t answered at that time, but now he tried to. He thought about it, trying to find the answer. And then it came to him. His dream…

His dream was to fly away, to gain his freedom. Not to follow Aizen´s orders, not to do what he didn´t want to. But to do what he really wanted to do. He wanted to escape from the cage. Everyone thought that Ulquiorra didn´t have any feelings. That he was carved out of stone, because he always was doing as Aizen said. But they were wrong. He had emotions and feelings. It was just only now, that he himself realized that.

This conclusion explained something, he couldn´t explain either. When Aizen gave him the rank of the fourth espada, he had concealed some of his powers. The release of his zanpukatou wasn´t the real one. Actually, he didn´t really know the real release.

And now he could explain that. He wanted to be free of the responsibility of being one of the three strongest espada. If he was stronger, he would be locked inside Las Noches all the time, waiting for being used as a hidden card in Aizen´s sleeve.

He opened his eyes with a new intention. He wanted to break free and fly away. He stood up and began to fire countless ceros' at the barrier. While he did that, he was wondering. How exactly could he break free? He was bound to Aizen for all eternity after all.

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Suddenly he realized that there were cracks on the barriers. He intensified his attacks and soon the barrier shattered. He stepped outside and saw Orihime stand nearby. He slowly walked over to her.

"Are you scared?" he asked her. "You are useless to Aizen now. There´s no one left to protect you. It´s over. You´ll die alone here, where no one can touch you."

He stepped closer, but Orihime didn´t answer.

"I asked you if you´re scared." He looked her in her eyes.

" I´m not scared", she answered, "Everyone came to save me, so my heart is already with them"

"Nonsense", he replied. "You are unafraid because your friends came for you? Are you serious?

Orihime got steel in her eyes when she replied with a "yes".

"When I first heard they were coming to rescue me, I was a little happy and a lot sad. I came here to protect everyone, so why did they have to follow me? I wondered why they hadn´t realized. But when I felt Kuchiki fall, and when I saw Kurosaki fighting, none of it mattered anymore.

"I just didn´t want Kurosaki to get hurt. I just wanted everyone to be safe. That´s when I realized, oh, they probably felt the same. If one of them disappeared the way I did, I know I´d do the same thing."

"Hearts? You human always talk about hearts." He pointed his finger at the spot where Orihime´s heart was placed.

"It´s as you have them in your hand. But my eyes sees everything, nothing can escape it. What it doesn´t see, doesn´t exist. That´s how I´ve always fought. What is a heart? If I rip open you chest, will I see it? If I crack open your skull, will find it there?

And then it hit him. Hearts are what human always described as feelings and emotions. But hollows or arrancar don´t have a heart. Then how could he feel emotions? He then came to a conclusion.

He knew that when a hollow was killed, it ended up in hell. And it was the same for arrancar´s. But he knew of a secret way to escape that, so he could be reborn as a normal soul in a human body. Starting life over again. The only way to escape that was… to be stabbed by his own zanpukatou.

He unsheathed his zanpukatou and held it in front of him. Orihime stared paralyzed of fright in front of him, thinking it was meant for her. He tried to say something, but the words were stuck in his throat. He coughed a little and tried again.

"Woman, I want you to do me a favor" He forced the words past his dry lips. He knew of the sacrifice, but he had to do it.

"I want you to stab me and kill me" If he could be reborn, he would be free of everything. He could change the way he lived, the way he was.

Orihime was too shocked for words. She rubbed her eyes and stared at him.

"You´re not joking, are you?"

Ulquiorra shook his head, took her hand and laid his zanpukatou in it.

"Please, will you not?"

Orihime looked him in the eyes, trying to decide what to do. Then she nodded and raised his zanpukatou. And then she stabbed him, right on the spot where his heart would have been.

He coughed and spat put some blood from his mouth. Then they heard a great explosion behind them. Judging Orihime´s reaction and her eyes, he knew that it was the Kurosaki guy. He smiled and said to her:

"Go with him. He will protect you and take care of you. That was what you wanted. So now go, live your own dream out."

Orihime bit her lip, but nodded. Ulquiorra could now hear Ichigo unsheathe Zangestu. Ichigo flash stepped, so he ended up at Orihime´s side. He was surprised to see what state Ulquiorra was in.

"What happened here?" Ichigo asked Orihime.

And then she explained everything for him. Ichigo was again surprised.

"Why? Why do you want to die?" Ichigo asked Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra shook his head and fell onto the ground. And then he dissolved into spirit particles. The same happened to Ulquiorra´s zanpukatou.

Ichigo and Orihime looked at the spot where Ulquiorra had previously been. Then Ichigo griped Orihime´s shoulder and they looked each other in the eyes. And then they began to run...

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_I hope you enjoyed my story. I probably left a cliffhanger, but don´t worry, I will update in two weeks again. Next time you´ll see what happened to Ulquiorra, cause he isn´t really dead (as you probably thought)_

_And please review._

_If you like Hitsugaya too, you should read my other fanfiction, Dark Ice._

_So, have sweet dreams._

_See ya_


	2. Awakening

_Hi, it´s Shadow Typhoon. This is my second chapter, so please enjoy._

_Disclaimer: I don´t own Bleach_

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**Dark Angel**

**Chapter 2: Awakening**

**by Shadow Typhoon**

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It was dark. Everything was covered by darkness, completely black. The darkness was surrounding him, and at the same time, inside of him.

"Oi, lad, you have to wake up" a male voice spoke.

Ulquiorra slowly opened his eyes, and found himself at the same place, where Orihime had stabbed him. Oh yeah, he was dead. Or at least he hoped he was. But, judging his surroundings, he probably wasn´t. What a bore.

Someone poked him in his side. "I told you to wake up, didn´t I?"

Ulquiorra looked up and saw a dark figure blocking the light. Ulquiorra got himself pulled up and got a good look at the person. It was a man, probably in the end of his 30´s. He had dark brown hair, almost black and playful dark blue eyes. He was frowning, but had a smile in his eyes. Almost like he was having fun.

Ulquiorra groaned and got up. He traced the area where he was stabbed, but no wound was to be found. He frowned and checked the other scars, he had achieved through his afterlife. But nothing was to be found. It was almost like he was new born.

His frown grew deeper and he looked at the strange man. He then saw something, he had overlooked. At the man's neck, there was a part of a skull. It was covering half around the whole neck, covering his right side. That meant the man was a strong hollow (probably an adjuchas) or an arrancar. He hoped it was the first.

His hand automatically found its way to his zanpukatou. But it was gone. He looked down to the spot, where his zanpukatou normally were, but nothing was there. He was defenseless…and therefore screwed. If the man would like to attack him, he didn´t have a proper defense. His power was based on his zanpukatou. The sources of his powers were originating from his zanpukatou. So, without the zanpukatou, he was very weak.

"Ya don´t need to be that tensed up, ya know. I won´t hurt ya. Actually, I´m ya friend." The man said with a friendly smile planted on his face.

"Who are you?" Ulquiorra demanded coldly. He felt like he was somehow… comfortable in the man´s presence. And he didn´t like it.

"Mine name is Alonzo Callida. Nice to meet ya…again"

Again? Ulquiorra was clueless. He haven´t meet this man before. Then how could the man say again?

"Hehe, ya seem surprised"

Ulquiorra glared at Alonzo, and quickly decided, to not like this man. He reminded Ulquiorra too much of Ichimaru. The way Alonzo talked…Even though, the atmosphere around Ichimaru was sadistic, dark and cold. While the atmosphere around this man was warm, comfortable. And Ulquiorra liked that. But he didn´t want to admit it though.

Alonzo sighed and looked up. Ulquiorra had changed since the last time he had seen him. Well, he knew it would happen since that incident… He shook his head and looked at Ulquiorra again.

"So ya can´t remember me?" Alonzo asked.

Ulquiorra shook his head, filled with unexplained questions. How did this man know him? And what kind of connection did they have?

"Never mind, just forget that. Anyway, I came here for a different reason." Alonzo started.

"As ya can see, ya have changed. In a way, ya couldn´t even imagine. Ya are now no longer an adjuchas. Ya are now a Vasto Lorde."

Ulquiorra stared at him with his mouth agape, but closed it quickly. He didn´t want to lose his dignity.

"Are you serious?" Ulquiorra asked.

Alonzo lifted an eyebrow.

"Are ya asking me if I´m serious? Ya are pretty smart to ask that, since I´m almost always joking." Alonzo held his head high, almost proudly.

"But not right now. There are some things, which ya shouldn´t joke around with. And this is one of them. "

Ulquiorra relaxed his tensed shoulders and looked Alonzo in the eyes.

"Explain yourself. How did I change?"

"Well", Alonzo ran his fingers through his hair, "ya changed because ya became stronger. But, unlike most of the other Vasto Lorde transformations, ya didn´t become physical stronger, but mentally stronger. Ya are the first to transform that way. So, all in all, ya are unique. And, as I said before, ya are now a Vasto Lorde."

Ulquiorra digested the new information. This was…so unexpected. To think, that his attempted suicide would led him to become a Vasto Lorde.

"But Vasto Lorde powers are great, so ya have to control them in a new way. And that´s why I´m here. I´ll have to teach ya to control ya new powers. I will be ya teacher and ya will be my pupil. But we don´t have much time. Soon Aizen will defeat the shinigami and then he will conquer the world. And we Vasto Lorde don´t want that. We are actually some kind of guardians of the balance in this world. If the balance is tipped, it will be a catastrophe. The world will descend to chaos, and all life and death will cease to exist. And we don´t want that."

So Alonzo was a Vasto Lorde, Ulquiorra thought. That explained why Alonzo knew so much about Vasto Lorde and Aizen. But wait a second…

"Why do I have to control my powers before Aizen takes over the world? Won´t the other Vasto Lorde defeat him?"

Alonzo sighed.

"Well, that´s very simple. Even thought we are Vasto Lorde, we can´t defeat him. There are two reasons: For the first: Because, if he was a hollow, he would be the strongest of all Vasto Lorde. And for the second: We can´t see through his _complete hypnosis. _But somehow you can. So you have to learn to control your powers and then you will defeat him. Do you understand?"

Ulquiorra nodded and waited for Alonzo to continue.

"Now, follow me and I will show ya"

Alonzo held out one arm and touched the air. Just like when Ulquiorra opened a garganta, a portal opened. Alonzo stepped into it and Ulquiorra followed…

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_I hope you enjoyed my story so far. I know I left a cliffhanger, but I had to. I won´t update for a while, since I´m still not fully sure how the story should progress. And also because I have to finish my other story, Dark Ice. _

_But until we meet again, have sweet dreams._

_See ya_


	3. Rising Angel

_Hello, it´s Shadow Typhoon. I know, its been a long time, since I last updated, but here I am again. Enjoy. But bevare of spoilers._

_Disclaimer: I don´t own Bleach, but if I did, Hitsugaya and Ulquiorra would be the main characters, and Ulquiorra wouldn´t die._

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**Dark Angel**

**Chapter 3: Rising Angel**

**By Shadow Typhoon**

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Alonzo and Ulquiorra now stood in a white wasteland. Everything was white. The sky, the earth, everything.

"This´ where ya gonna train."

Ulquiorra nodded and looked around. There didn´t seem to be a way out of this place.

"Sit down lad" Alonzo said and sat down himself.

Ulquiorra raised an eyebrow, but did as he was told. He sat in a lotus position. Alonzo motioned him to be quiet and close his eyes. Ulquiorra closed his eyes. Instead of everything being a dark Rosa color behind his eyelids, it was completely black. Ulquiorra shifted on his position, not knowing exactly what to do.

"Ya have to concentrate. Look inside yourself and find the core of ya power. When ya have found it, ya have to dive inside of it"

"What will then happen?" Ulquiorra asked curiously.

"Who knows?" Alonzo grinned.

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Ulquiorra frowned, but nevertheless he did as he was told _again. _He looked deep inside himself, but couldn´t feel anything. It was pitch black inside his mind. Then he saw something, something falling from above. He directed my gaze upon the object and stared at it for several seconds. Then he finally figured out what it was. It was a lonely black feather. It was falling down extremely slow, as in slow-motion.

He looked at it as it fell and fell and fell... and then it blowed towards him. Ulquiorra was surprised, but held out his hands and caught the feather. It was long and soft. He stroked it and felt some kind of electricity every time he touched it. Then suddenly the feather rose and soared upwards. Ulquiorra looked after it as it disappeared into the horizon.

He felt kind of...disappointed. He didn´t know why though. Ulquiorra sighed and looked around again, hoping to spot anything, anything in the mess of black. Something caught his attention in the corner of his eye. He looked towards it and recognized the feather. He felt happy; it actually came back to him! He held out his hands again, but this time the feather didn´t fall and land.

Instead it began to fly around in circles, up and down, side to side, very gracefully. He was mesmerized by it´s dance. Suddenly the feather stopped in midair. It began to whirl around itself, faster, faster and faster. Then it began to glow a dark green radiance. And then the feather changed form. It transformed into the most beautiful bird, Ulquiorra had ever seen.

The bird was pitch-black as the surroundings, and yet you could see it clearly. It had glowing green eyes, just as Ulquiorra´s, which radiated wisdom and strength. The bird was a predator with a razor sharp beak. The body was made to flight, just like a shark was made to swim. It had black feathers, soft and long. It was a big bird, bigger than Ulquiorra himself, so he could easily sit on it without the bird got any troubles with flying.

The bird opened its mouth and spoke:

"I am Kuraifuki" (AN: Kurai means dark and Fuki means freedom. So, it means, Dark Freedom.)

Ulquiorra tilted his head and concentrated on its voice. He couldn´t determine if it was a female voice or a male voice. It was like the voice was none and yet both of them.

"I am a guardian" Kuraifuki continued.

"Guardian?" Ulquiorra asked and frowned. He didn´t like to not knowing what was going on.

"Yes, a guardian. I am the keeper of your soul"

"But how is that possible?" Ulquiorra asked with narrowed eyes. He didn´t like this at all. He wanted answers. Now!

"Every human has it´s guardian. No matter if it´s a living human, shinigami, vizard, hollow or arrancar. Just that the creature has a thinking mind, above the mind of animals"

"Continue"

"But only a few can meet the guardian. Shinigami can communicate with their guardian, believing that they are communicating with their zanpukatou. Of cause, the guardian does not correct this, since it has been a secret for centuries."

"Then why are you telling this to me?" Ulquiorra asked suspiciously.

"Because that guardians are allowed to tell Vasto Lorde´s. A Vasto Lorde is the keeper of the balance, and the Vasto Lorde itself is neither good nor evil. They exist for the balance. But even the Vasto Lorde needs to be balanced. That is our job. Of cause, not only that, but we provide the Vasto Lorde´s with power, so that they can keep the balance."

"So you are a guardian assigned to take care of me?"

"Not entirely. A guardian is made partly out of your soul, making us a part of you. We guardians have our own conscious, but my form is made by you"

"So you are something which is a part of me, but is not me"

"That is correct"

Ulquiorra frowned. There was something which didn´t fit into the puzzle.

"Earlier, you said: That Vasto Lorde´s is the keepers of balance. But Vasto Lorde´s are hollows. Hollows love destruction and war. How is that possible?"

"Do you love destruction and war?" Kuraifuki asked him patently.

"No, I don´t think so" Ulquiorra answered.

"See. Not every hollow loves war and destruction. Just as not every shinigami loves peace and hates fighting."

That was true, Ulquiorra thought. He thought of Aizen, Tousen and Ichimaru. He also thought of the 11. Division in Seireitei. They loved fighting. Ulquiorra also remembered that Stark, the first espada, hated fighting and was a pacifist. He nodded to himself. It was true then.

Ulquiorra then looked around himself and saw only blackness.

"So this is my mindscape?"

"Yes and no. This is your mindscape, but it is not completely evolved. It needs more time to grow."

"May I ask you a personal question?" Ulquiorra asked carefully.

"Sure" Kuraifuki answered surprised.

"Are you a woman or a man?"

Kuraifuki stared at Ulquiorra and Ulquiorra stared at Kuraifuki.

"That…is a difficult question. I am a woman, but because that I reside in the mind of a man; I changed into a neutral being. It takes some time, but after your mindscape has evolved, I will revert to my former being.

Ulquiorra nodded and looked at the raven bird again.

"So, what now?"

The raven bird looked at him. It was as she was staring into his soul. Technically, that was what she was doing.

"You´ll have to obtain the power and control it."

With only saying that, she became a swirling vortex of darkness. It was like a black hole, entrancing too. Ulquiorra felt himself drawn towards the vortex. And suddenly he was inside of it. It was even darker inside the vortex, compared to his soul. Ulquiorra saw something in the middle of the vortex, or was it left? Or right? Ulquiorra had lost his direction. Anyway, he saw a soft black feather. He reached out and touched it. And suddenly everything became white.

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_Hi again. I hope you enjoyed it. For those who didn´t get the meaning of the name: Kuraifuki. Kurai means dark and Fuki means freedom. So, it means, Dark Freedom. Pretty fitting._

_I really don´t have many things to say, but I will try to finish this story soon, but I´m afraid that I can´t. I´m in the middle of my exams, so there will be a time gap before I can update again._

_But, untill then, have sweet dreams._

_See ya_


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